Magic Johnson denies he wants to buy Clippers

Fred Mitchell, Chicago Tribune reporter

Lakers great Magic Johnson denied a published report that he is interested in buying the Clippers, but he insisted: "I am always going to fight for African-Americans, as well as Latinos ... minorities. I am going to fight for them to the death. That's where I invested my money. That's who I hire."

Before addressing an audience at a fundraising dinner at the Genesis Center in downtown Gary on Monday night, the Hall of Fame player and successful businessman spoke to reporters to address alleged racist remarks made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling in an audio recording first obtained by TMZ.

Sterling allegedly said he did not want his girlfriend to bring black people to Clippers games. And he was upset she posted a picture of her with Johnson on Instagram.

Yahoo Sports reported that Johnson, with his billionaire backers, the Guggenheim Partners, was interested in buying the Clippers.

"When (Sterling) … me personally, that he didn't want me to come to his games … then everybody says, 'OK … Magic should buy (the Clippers).' I never said that," said Johnson, who is part of the group that owns the Dodgers.

Johnson said he has no first-hand knowledge of Sterling's alleged bigotry.

"I didn't see it myself, but I read the articles," Johnson said. "I know he has been sued. We knew he had some cases against him. So we knew there were some cases, but I didn't see it myself."

Asked his feelings about Sterling's comments, Johnson said: "I'm outraged, I'm everything. First, with my name being associated ... he called me out, he singled me out personally. Then he singled out African-Americans. Again, I am going to always fight for myself as well as my people. I have been doing that for years. I will not stop doing that."

Meanwhile, Johnson said he would not advise the Clippers players to boycott the playoffs in protest.

"Now, if nothing happens, then you can boycott in the offseason," he said. "And not just the Clippers, but the whole league has to, because if (Sterling) is not thrown out, you've got to do something."

Johnson said he is not in position to say if there are other NBA owners who share Sterling's racist views.

"I don't care about the other 29 (owners), until they cross a line," Johnson said. "Then I'll start caring. And we do have one (owner) that is a minority, and that's Michael Jordan. And I am glad that he spoke out too. This is great for all of us to band together. And we are going to do that, we have done that. And we're saying we're not going to stand for it."